UIUC chancellor regretting uproar caused by not hiring professor

Posted:
Tuesday, September 16, 2014 4:00 PM EDT

URBANA - On Monday, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Phyllis Wise told a committee comprised of faculty leaders that she regretted the uproar caused by the decision to not hire Steven Salaita as a Native American Studies professor.

Wise told the UIUC's Senate Executive Committee that the university's board of trustees will be asked for their approval in the hiring of future tenured faculty much earlier in the process. Wise also said that she wished she'd have consulted faculty members who had signed off on the decision to hire Salaita.

Salaita accepted a job offer from the university, but was informed that he would not be hired after he posted several anti-Israel Twitter messages. Last week, the Board of Trustees decided to stand by that decision.

However, Salaita's supporters believe that he had effectively been hired, and that his speech would've been protected by academic tenure. Salaita's supporters also say that professors usually begin work before the board approves their hires.